Peugeot 205 Gentry GTi
Discussion
Up until about a month ago I was happily plodding along with restoring my 309 Goodwood. It was a slow process, but I was making progress. Then I saw this 205 pop up for sale and I couldn't resist, the 309 was sold to a new owner in France and I took ownership of the 205.
The 205 Gentry isn't particularly exciting in standard form. It's based on the STDT model, but has a detuned 1.9 GTi engine and an automatic gearbox. However, it is very well spec'd and has a few bits and bobs you won't see on many 205s. This particularly Gentry has had a few tweaks, and this is what attracted me to it:
-Converted to a manual with a recon box
-Brand new GTi head fitted with 1.8 cam (for better midrange when it was still an auto)
-GTi spec rear beam with Koni dampers
-Bilstein front dampers with Eibach springs
-GTI6 front brakes
-1.9 GTi alloy wheels
So essentially brought up to GTi standards, but with a slightly more subtle look. So here's the car when I bought it:
Having put a few miles on it over the last few weeks (including a run out to Goodwood Breakfast Club on Sunday), I love it! The gearchange is the tightest I've ever had in a 205/309, it rides fantastically well, the engine runs perfectly and although you loose a bit from the top end with the 1.8 cam it gives you a hell of a shove in the back in the mid range. I think this also helps it feel so responsive, the throttle response is instant. My daily drive is a Citroen C4 VTS, and I was worried that using a modern hot(ish) hatch every day would mean the 205 would be neglected, but in fact the 205 makes the C4 feel heavy, unresponsive and pretty cumbersome!
So, mechanically it's pretty much spot on, but there are a few aesthetic issues which I've been sorting. In the last pic you can see that the drivers seat is grey leather instead of black. By chance a set of black leather seats popped up for sale just down the road, so these were snapped up and hastily fitted last week:
You can also see a new stereo fitted and the gearknob to has been swapped from a red one to silver (in keeping with the rest of the car). The gear gaitor with the red stitching will also be swapped out shortly for one with black stitching. I also have the standard wood trims to fit to the door cards, but I can't decide whether that's a good idea or not.
Apart from tidying a few other bits and replacing some broken bits of trim there's not much more to do. I'm considering a set of new boots as the fronts are winter tyres and the grip from them is pretty horrendous - the inside wheel likes to spin up mid corner. At the same time I'm thinking a darker colour may suit the alloys better too. Basically the idea is to continue tinkering and enjoy driving the car whenever I can!
In the long term it would be nice to extract a bit more power - maybe an engine swap or some Turbo Technics goodies, and also tidy up the bodywork a bit as there's a few dings and scratches all over. We'll see though!
The 205 Gentry isn't particularly exciting in standard form. It's based on the STDT model, but has a detuned 1.9 GTi engine and an automatic gearbox. However, it is very well spec'd and has a few bits and bobs you won't see on many 205s. This particularly Gentry has had a few tweaks, and this is what attracted me to it:
-Converted to a manual with a recon box
-Brand new GTi head fitted with 1.8 cam (for better midrange when it was still an auto)
-GTi spec rear beam with Koni dampers
-Bilstein front dampers with Eibach springs
-GTI6 front brakes
-1.9 GTi alloy wheels
So essentially brought up to GTi standards, but with a slightly more subtle look. So here's the car when I bought it:
Having put a few miles on it over the last few weeks (including a run out to Goodwood Breakfast Club on Sunday), I love it! The gearchange is the tightest I've ever had in a 205/309, it rides fantastically well, the engine runs perfectly and although you loose a bit from the top end with the 1.8 cam it gives you a hell of a shove in the back in the mid range. I think this also helps it feel so responsive, the throttle response is instant. My daily drive is a Citroen C4 VTS, and I was worried that using a modern hot(ish) hatch every day would mean the 205 would be neglected, but in fact the 205 makes the C4 feel heavy, unresponsive and pretty cumbersome!
So, mechanically it's pretty much spot on, but there are a few aesthetic issues which I've been sorting. In the last pic you can see that the drivers seat is grey leather instead of black. By chance a set of black leather seats popped up for sale just down the road, so these were snapped up and hastily fitted last week:
You can also see a new stereo fitted and the gearknob to has been swapped from a red one to silver (in keeping with the rest of the car). The gear gaitor with the red stitching will also be swapped out shortly for one with black stitching. I also have the standard wood trims to fit to the door cards, but I can't decide whether that's a good idea or not.
Apart from tidying a few other bits and replacing some broken bits of trim there's not much more to do. I'm considering a set of new boots as the fronts are winter tyres and the grip from them is pretty horrendous - the inside wheel likes to spin up mid corner. At the same time I'm thinking a darker colour may suit the alloys better too. Basically the idea is to continue tinkering and enjoy driving the car whenever I can!
In the long term it would be nice to extract a bit more power - maybe an engine swap or some Turbo Technics goodies, and also tidy up the bodywork a bit as there's a few dings and scratches all over. We'll see though!
After moving house in November not much has happened with the 205 over the last few months. Had a few drives out when time allowed which always resulted in a big smile on my face:
Unfortunately the last drive back in January resulted in this:
Oooops! So in the garage it went to be fixed at a later date. February passed and the MOT lapsed. In March I started looking into the oil leak. It was everywhere! But no obvious leak apart from some weeping from the cam cover gasket. So that was swapped out and I spent an evening with a load of degreaser and cleaned everything up. Not the best photo but this is the sort of mess I was dealing with:
Hopefully it was just a hardened gasket and a few hours of abuse that caused it to spit out some oil, and there's nothing more sinister going on. Time will tell!
So this month I thought I better get an MOT on it. I knew there were a few niggles but I hoped there was nothing to cause a fail. So the evening before the test I intended to get it out the garage, give it a wash and check the lights to avoid a silly fail. Didn't quite go to plan - tried to move the car and the n/s rear wheel was completely locked on. After about an hour of swearing I'd managed to get it freed off after pulling the drum off with a hub puller - was just a rusted handbrake adjuster. So no time for a wash, just a quick check round, swapped a bulb and was ready to go. Should have guessed after that it wasn't going to go to plan...
And the only failure point was the bloody horn. Didn't even think to check that! Unfortunately there's a long list of advisories to go with it, as well as a verbal warning from the tester. Not ideal. After checking all components and in the horn circuit last night I finally discovered a join in a wire causing a large voltage drop. One new connection and all is well. Retest booked in for Monday and then I can start on the other jobs!
Unfortunately the last drive back in January resulted in this:
Oooops! So in the garage it went to be fixed at a later date. February passed and the MOT lapsed. In March I started looking into the oil leak. It was everywhere! But no obvious leak apart from some weeping from the cam cover gasket. So that was swapped out and I spent an evening with a load of degreaser and cleaned everything up. Not the best photo but this is the sort of mess I was dealing with:
Hopefully it was just a hardened gasket and a few hours of abuse that caused it to spit out some oil, and there's nothing more sinister going on. Time will tell!
So this month I thought I better get an MOT on it. I knew there were a few niggles but I hoped there was nothing to cause a fail. So the evening before the test I intended to get it out the garage, give it a wash and check the lights to avoid a silly fail. Didn't quite go to plan - tried to move the car and the n/s rear wheel was completely locked on. After about an hour of swearing I'd managed to get it freed off after pulling the drum off with a hub puller - was just a rusted handbrake adjuster. So no time for a wash, just a quick check round, swapped a bulb and was ready to go. Should have guessed after that it wasn't going to go to plan...
And the only failure point was the bloody horn. Didn't even think to check that! Unfortunately there's a long list of advisories to go with it, as well as a verbal warning from the tester. Not ideal. After checking all components and in the horn circuit last night I finally discovered a join in a wire causing a large voltage drop. One new connection and all is well. Retest booked in for Monday and then I can start on the other jobs!
MOT now passed!
There was a fairly hefty list of advisories, but nothing too major. However the tester did mention that the o/s/f caliper was loose even though the mounting bolts were tight. That'd be the source of the knocking from the front then! Thought I better have a look at this first. Nothing obviously wrong but the caliper was just loose, fortunately it turned out to be an easy fix:
The brakes are from a 306 GTi6, I can only assume that the caliper mounts are very slightly thinner than the standard ones, so there wasn't quite enough thread on the bolt to secure them tightly. A couple of washers solved that and now there's no movement at all. Weirdly the near side is fine.
Whilst I had 2 of the wheels off I thought I'd tick one advisory off - mismatched front and rear tyres. Fronts were Dunlop Winter 195/50/15s and the back were mismatched 185/55/15s. The winter tyres had a major lack of grip in the dry and I intended to get the sorted before the MOT but never had chance. I'd snapped up a cheap set of wheels and tyres locally a while back, but they give the car a slightly different look:
I'm still undecided on the colour. I think they look pretty cool, but you kinda loose the impact of the Speedline wheel with everything being dark. Will keep them on there a bit longer and see how I feel - eventually I'll get a set refurbished in whatever colour I decide looks best and shod them with some decent rubber.
There was a fairly hefty list of advisories, but nothing too major. However the tester did mention that the o/s/f caliper was loose even though the mounting bolts were tight. That'd be the source of the knocking from the front then! Thought I better have a look at this first. Nothing obviously wrong but the caliper was just loose, fortunately it turned out to be an easy fix:
The brakes are from a 306 GTi6, I can only assume that the caliper mounts are very slightly thinner than the standard ones, so there wasn't quite enough thread on the bolt to secure them tightly. A couple of washers solved that and now there's no movement at all. Weirdly the near side is fine.
Whilst I had 2 of the wheels off I thought I'd tick one advisory off - mismatched front and rear tyres. Fronts were Dunlop Winter 195/50/15s and the back were mismatched 185/55/15s. The winter tyres had a major lack of grip in the dry and I intended to get the sorted before the MOT but never had chance. I'd snapped up a cheap set of wheels and tyres locally a while back, but they give the car a slightly different look:
I'm still undecided on the colour. I think they look pretty cool, but you kinda loose the impact of the Speedline wheel with everything being dark. Will keep them on there a bit longer and see how I feel - eventually I'll get a set refurbished in whatever colour I decide looks best and shod them with some decent rubber.
There seems to be a lot of confusion about the Gentry, you get a lot of people saying it's not a 'proper' GTi as it's auto - yet you could spec a 1.9 GTi with an auto box, like the similar looking STDT it is based on the GTI but with higher spec, I've also heard people (obviously who don't own one!) say it's got standard 205 suspension - no it hasn't! I have one which is completely factory original with all service and MoTs from new and low mileage. I have owned several 205 GTI's all 1.9s inc. Mi-16 and to summarise the Gentry spec is:
1.9 GTi engine with multipoint injection detuned with lower comp pistons & different camshaft for auto box
ZF 4-speed auto box
1.6 GTi front suspension with wishbone lower arms and 1.6 GTi spec vented brakes
1.6 GTi spec rear beam & drum brakes
Full leather GTi interior
GTi spec bronze tinted windows, rear opening windows as GTi
GTi spec sunroof
7 spoke 14" alloys - same size as 1.6 GTi
1.9 GTI cat spec exhaust system
Hope this clears up a few 'myths'
1.9 GTi engine with multipoint injection detuned with lower comp pistons & different camshaft for auto box
ZF 4-speed auto box
1.6 GTi front suspension with wishbone lower arms and 1.6 GTi spec vented brakes
1.6 GTi spec rear beam & drum brakes
Full leather GTi interior
GTi spec bronze tinted windows, rear opening windows as GTi
GTi spec sunroof
7 spoke 14" alloys - same size as 1.6 GTi
1.9 GTI cat spec exhaust system
Hope this clears up a few 'myths'
Wow thread revival! This one is long gone, replaced with a proper GTi!
The rear suspension isn't quite GTi spec as standard as the torsion bars and ARB are different. My rear beam was rebuilt to GTi spec. I'm not convinced the ride height or dampers are GTi spec either. But you are right in the sense they share the subframe/wishbone setup as the GTi/STDT/Dturbo.
The rear suspension isn't quite GTi spec as standard as the torsion bars and ARB are different. My rear beam was rebuilt to GTi spec. I'm not convinced the ride height or dampers are GTi spec either. But you are right in the sense they share the subframe/wishbone setup as the GTi/STDT/Dturbo.
Saying that there were several different suspension and torsion bar rates in the GTi's (&Cti) over the years, for instance a lot of people think the 1.9 GTI is a 1.6 but with a larger engine! Not so, has different brakes, hubs, driveshafts, suspension springs, ARB and torsion bars as well as the obvious cosmetic changes. Even on the 1.6 GTi's there was some variation in engine spec and spring/ARB rates depending on the year. The Gentry has very similar suspension and brakes to some 1.6 GTi's that I have worked on, I have the official spring rate/height settings for most GTi/CTi models, but have yet to get official figures for the Gentry!
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff